     Sylvester was indeed a treasure, a man dedicated to the telling of our stories.   He was a blessing and he shall be missed.   Sylvester is in the Library of Angels now! -  God is Good!

            Sylvester Brooks and Family 

The staff of the Memphis Public Library is devastated to learn of Sylvester Lewis's passing. He was a dedicated volunteer who helped countless citizens trace their family history and as a member of the Shelby County Historical Commission he made sure that our history was preserved and commemorated for future generations. Mr. Lewis's history of Gray's Creek Missionary Baptist Church, published in the 2002 edition of  the West Tennessee History Society Papers, will stand forever as an important contribution to American history.  We will miss his kindness and his passionate dedication to the study of history.

Sincere sympathy and comfort to the family. RIP Great 
Uncle Sylvester Cortez Lewis. 




We ARE family.  Uncle Syl will be missed.  He did research on family history.  We continue to lift up his sister (Queen Chaney), the last survivor of ten.  God continue His blessings upon our family.

Cousin Sylvester will be greatly missed. I had the pleasure of speaking with him a few times about our family history. He had been researching our family history for years and was happy to share the information. I hope that myself and other family researchers can continue his research and learn more about our family history.  Thank you so much for your kindness  and dedication to our family Cousin. SIP with our Ancestors your Cousin Hope Jones -grand daughter of Bose Jones 

I wanted to send my deepest condolences. I found out a few years ago, that Slyvester was my cousin and I got to talk to him a few times about our family and things that I never new about like my mom’s child hood as well as my grand father jesse.  Let me tell you his mind was extra sharp .. I couldn’t believe either that he was in his 90’s.. He didn’t look a day over 40, which told me about his spirit(was pure and genuine ) Well cousin you will for sure be missed, Rest in Paradise 

Since hearing the news of Sylvester Lewis’s passing my mind has been racing to put context to what it is that we lost. Sylvester’s passing was not only a loss for LSP but for the larger community beyond the borders of Shelby County. I met Sylvester in his capacity as Vice-Chairperson of the Shelby County Historical Commission (SCHC). 

He had a very genuine warm engaging presence that drew all-in who encountered him. We discovered we had a lot in common. He was a retired Postal Service employee and worked in Detroit alongside my uncle, in the same facility.   

Both of them shared a passion for African American history. That passion is intensely alive in me and I share that with both of them. 

In this information-intensive age, it is easy to believe that everything we need to know has been written in a book, or we can “google it”, or shout “Hey Siri”. As one writer has said, “we have so much information at our fingertips, but it’s not all meaningful or relevant to us. Stories help us peer into the past and make pathways into the future”.

Sylvester was a storyteller in the truest sense of the West African tradition of a “Griot”.  

My uncle once wrote, “History is not about the story of men and women of one race or color and the neglect or omission of the men and women of another race or color. . . It deals with people in all times and places and should present the contributions of all peoples to world civilizations.” 

The departing of Sylvester brings us once again to a real understanding of a common expression heard around the world, “when an elder dies, a whole library is lost.” 

Take your rest Mr. Librarian.   

Ecclesiastes 12:7 - Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.  

John Ashworth, Board of Directors, LSP


OBITUARY

Sylvester Cortez Lewis

September 21, 1929 – January 7, 2022

M. J. Edwards Stage Road Chapel

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